Univeral nozzle for vacuum cleaners

ABSTRACT

Universal nozzle to be used in connection with general known vacuum cleaners and the like, with or without washing devices, to clean floors with different floorings, including carpets, textiles and the like. The nozzle is provided with one or more cylindrical rollers, (FIG.  1  and FIG.  2 ), so suspended and so designed, by means of free wheeling bearings, so the rollers freely can revolve around their own axis, when the nozzle ( 14 ) is moved in one direction, but where the rollers are blocked, when moved in the opposite direction. Hair, thread and other foreign materials are thereby assembled in an oblong cylindrical cushion, easy to evacuate. The rollers can be provided with outside linings of different kind, for instance as a rubber roller, (FIG.  1 ), or as a brush roller, (FIG.  2 ). The rollers can be suspended in an activation device ( 7 ) and ( 10 ), making it possible to activate one or more of the rollers. The rollers are provided with beams ( 12 ) and ( 13 ), in order to scrape off hair and foreign materials, which are fastening on these, by which the rollers are self cleaning. The beam ( 13 ) is do designed, that it in same time is acting as a throttle valve.

[0001] The invention relates to a universal nozzle, designed for use inconnection with the hitherto known vacuum cleaners, with or withoutwashing devices, to carpet brushing equipment or other floor cleaningmachinery, to clean floors covered with different materials, such ascarpets, (pre-mixed carpeting). and other textiles and to floors coveredwith solid materials, such as wood, parquet, plastic materials, tiles orother ordinary used floor materials. During the invention, it has beenimportant to design a nozzle, especially useable to remove hairoriginating from humans, dogs and cats, and thread, lint and the likefrom floors, carpets and other textiles, with or without the use ofwashing devices. Furthermore, to enable the user to change the samenozzle rapidly to serve different cleaning jobs. In use, the nozzleshould have excellent wearing qualities and be gentle to the floorsurface. Furthermore, the nozzle should be self-cleaning to the greatestpossible extent. The nozzle should also be usable for the cleaning ofother kinds of textiles, furniture, car seats, cushions etc.

[0002] The nozzles known until now for vacuum cleaners and carpetbrushing equipment and the like are characteristic thereby, they aremoved forward and backward along the surface. Even if the nozzle isequipped with different kinds of devices, fitted to that side facingagainst the floor surface, the forward and backward going movement alongthe floor surface will not be able to loosen and pick up hair andfibers, to such an extent that they can be removed efficiently by avacuum cleaner. Some nozzles are provided with backward directed teethof different materials, gripping the nap of the carpet, to remove hairand fibers, etc. Consequently, the nozzle is hard to move and is causingheavy wear on the surface, and hair and fibers are catched in the teeth,whereupon these have to be cleaned manually. Other types of nozzles areprovided with textile pads, but these are by experience worn-outrapidly, for which reason they lose their ability to catch heir, etc.Likewise, hair and lint get stuck in the pad. Other known nozzles areusing one or more rails of different profiles and methods of suspension,acting by drawing the sharp edge of the rail along the surface of thefloor, which consequently is causing heavy wear of the carpet. The uptill now known nozzles are not designed to clean all kinds of flooring,or to clean with water or detergents. The known designs are notcomprising a nozzle, which rapidly can be converted to perform cleaningjobs of different kinds, for which reason the user must be in possessionof different types of nozzles. The use of the known mechanical ormotordriven rotatory brushes is expensive, and does not solve theproblems satisfactorily, as hair and fibers are twisted around thebrushes , which are difficult to clean.

[0003] From Danish patent No.124919 is known a carpet brushing machinewhich according to the claims is working in such a way, that a brush,positioned transversery in relation to the moving direction of themachine, mounted in the machine at a point of rotation, vertically overthe brush, is moved forward and backward along the floor by means of adriving lever, connected to a transversely positioned cylindrical brush,which is rotating, when the brush is moved forward and backward alongthe floor surface. The brush is revolving around its own axis withalternating direction of rotation, depending on the alternatingdirection of movement of the machine, and the transversely positionedbrush therefore is moving correspondingly forward and backward along thesurface.

[0004] Danish patent No. 124919 therefore, is not providing a device,which include the in the aforementioned described qualities.

[0005] By the present invention, a construction of a nozzle is provided,which is of the in the introductory part of claim 1 described character,and which has the qualities described in the introduction, included inone and the same nozzle, which is described in the following.

[0006] The nozzle can include a housing and a pipe socket and beprovided with cylindrical rollers, with horizontal axis of rotation andtransversely positioned in relation to the moving direction of themachine and characterized thereby, it is provided with one or morecylindrical rollers, each of which is containing an axle with two oremore free wheeling bearings fitted in a tube covered with outsidelinings, which can be of varied materials. The free wheeling bearingsare so constructed, that the roller at movement along the floor in acertain direction, freely can rotate around its own axis, but the rolleris blocked, when it is moved in the opposite direction. When the rolleris moved along the floor surface in blocked position, hair, fibers, etc.are assembled in the wedge-shaped area between the roller and thesurface, in the shape of an oblong cushion, which it is easy to extractor pick up in a container, designed for the purpose. By using ofcylindrical roller with a circular cross section, which are moved inreciprocating direction, the in the invention described qualities areobtained.

[0007] The in the invention used rollers can be covered with outsidelining of various kinds, adapted to the actual cleaning task. For thecleaning of carpets and pre-mixed carpeting, rollers with a plane—or anearly plane—gummy surface can be used, and thereby, both efficientlyand gently, remove hair, thread and the like. If the vacuum cleaner usedis of the type, after which water or detergent through a jet is sprayedon the carpet surface, the said rubber rollers are suitable to wipe thewater against the extractor duct, for efficient extraction. Anotherroller can be covered with an external lining, designed as ancylindrical brush roller or be covered with bristle like materials,which partly is asissting to remove hair etc. and partly gives thecarpet pile a slight brushing effect, which is improving the vacuumcleaning effect. The same brush roller can also be used for dry vacuumcleaning on solid flooring. Mainly at floor washing, the brush roller isworking as a fixed brush in the blocked position—similar to ascrubbing-brush—while the rubber roller is working like a rubberscraper, when the nozzle is moved in the direction, where the roller isblocked. Other roller linings can also be considered, adapted for thejob.

[0008] The in the nozzle, in accordance with the invention, mountedrollers can be suspended in a combined suspension and activation unit,making it possible, easily to activate that or those rollers, the userwants to apply after demand. In the design of the nozzle, for instancewhere one brush roller and one rubber roller are used, the user canselect to activate the brush roller alone, the rubber roller alone, bothrollers at the same time or none of the rollers. The activation of therollers, are guided by a hand or foot operated activation grip on theupper side of the nozzle. The suspension with rollers is pressed againstthe surface of possibly adjustable springs or by its own weight. Thesuspension and activation system used in the nozzle, can be extended bydemand to include several adjustable functions, for instance whenmanufacturing nozzles for professional use. Likewise, a more simpledesign also can be considered.

[0009] The rollers used in the nozzle, according to the invention, areprovided with beams, so designed and so suspended, that the surfaces ofthe roller are being scraped by the beams, thereby hair and foreignmaterials, which are sticking to those, are scraped off and extracted,when the rollers rotate. Hereby, the rollers are self cleaning duringuse. The beam, which is cleaning the brush roller, can be likelydesigned as a comb, where the teeth are intruding between the bristlesof the brush rollers. Hereby, hair, etc. are picked up by the brushes,when the roller is moved along the surface in the blocked position, andcatched by the comb and extracted, when the roller is revolving. Thebeam, cleaning the plain rubber roller, can be designed as a straight,rectangular plate of suitable materials, for example steel or plast,possibly provided with a hard-wearing edge against the roller. Thecleaning beam can be suspended in pivot pins, and can be pressed againstthe rollers, either by means of springs or by own weight.

[0010] The rectangular beam, which in accordance with the invention, iscleaning the plain rubber roller, prevents the air stream pass by theupper surface of the rubber roller, when the beam is designed air tightor nearly air tight. Hereby, the suction of the nozzle is concentratedto the space between the roller and the underlay. If the air stream isblocked to such a degree, that the vacuum power is reduced, the beam,which is preventing the air stream to pass the top of the roller, opensdue to the difference in the pressure between the vacuum side and thepressure side. By adjusting the weight of the beam or the tension of thespring load, the time of opening and closing can be regulated afterneed. It is of greatest importance to establish the highest possiblevacuum in the mentioned space area, especially when suck in water. Whenthe rubber roller is out of function by lifted up from the floorsurface, free suction below the roller is established.

[0011] According to the invention, the said nozzle can be designed indifferent ways some of which are described in the following, referringto the enclosed drawing, FIGS. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.

[0012] In the drawing, FIG. 1 is shown a cross section of a cylindricalroller. The roller is carried of an axle 1, which can be fastened in thenozzle for a vacuum cleaner, a brushing machine or to a similar floorcleaning machine, and be of a suitable length in relation to the nozzle.On the axle 1 is fitted two or more free wheeling bearings 2 of a knownconstruction, which allows rotation in one direction only, fitted in atube 3, covered with suitable lining on the outer surface 4. When theroller is moved along the surface 5 in the direction indicated by thearrow a, the free wheeling bearing allow the roller to revolve,indicated by the arrow c, along the surface 5. When the roller is movedalong the surface 5 in the opposite direction, as indicated by the arrowb, the free wheeling bearings 2 are blocking the revolving of theroller. By this the roller make a scraping movement along the surface 5.Due to the friction in the wedge-shaped space, appearing between thecylindrical surface, and the plane surface—or the nearly plane surfaceshair, thread and foreign materials are withdrawn by the blocked roller,and curled up into an oblong, cylindrical cushion of hair and thread,easy to extract or to pick up. Due to the design of roller the contactsurface between the roller and the floor surface, is changing frequentlyduring the use.) Hereby the optimum wearing quality and performance isobtained.

[0013] The surface of the roller can be of different suitable materials,just as the structure of the surface can be of different nature. In FIG.2 is shown a roller designed as described under FIG. 1, but with anoutside lining of brushes 6. The stiffness and the shape of the bristlescan be made in accordance with the cleaning task.

[0014] In FIG. 3 is in cross section shown the construction of anactivation handle device, which, in accordance with the invention, isactivating the said suspension and activation device. The activationhandle 7, has an approximate triangular cross section and is of asuitable length, and can turn around the axis 8. The lower edge of thehandle 7 is cut across to allow a rolling movement, shown by the arrowj, along the-upper surface of the nozzle 11. As the axis 8 of the handle7 is placed in the distance d in relation to the one contact surface ofthe handle, and in the distance a in relation to the other contactsurface, and as those distances d and e are different, the elevating arm9, carrying the roller suspension in the axle 10, is lifting or loweringthe suspension a similar distance f, which is equal to the differencebetween the distances d and a, obtained when the activation handle 7 isturned.

[0015]FIG. 5 is in cross section shown a practical construction as anexample, using two of the in the invention said cylindrical rollers, asshown and described in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. The one roller, FIG. 2, isshown as a cylindrical brush roller, fastened at the axle 1 in the arms16. The other roller, FIG. 1, is shown with a cylindrical cover of gummymaterials, fastened at the axle 1 in the other end of the arms 16. Theseare fastened by pivot pins 17 in the nozzle housing 14, which areadapted to the vacuum cleaner by the pipe socket 15. The arms 16 areturnable in an arc of circle round the pivot pins 17, so the rollers,FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, can be lifted or lowered as required, as indicated bythe arrows h. The arms 16 are raised or lowered by the vertical bars 9,fastened in the lower end of the pivot pins 10 in the arms 16, and inthe upper end at the pivot pins 8 in the activating handle 7. Therollers FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, are pressed down, against the surface 5 bythe springs 18. By adjusting the load on the springs 18, the pressure ofthe rollers, FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, against the surface 5, can be regulated.If the rubber roller FIG. 1 is to be uncoupled, it can be lifted byturning the foot or hand operated activation handle 7 in the direction,as indicated by the arrow j. When the hole nozzle 14 is moved forward,as indicated by the arrow a, the rollers FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 can revolvefreely around there own axis, as indicated by the arrow g. When thenozzle 14 is moved backwards as indicated by the arrow b, the freewheeling bearings in the rollers, FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, blocking therollers. Hereby, the direction depending scraping effect is obtained, asintended by the invention.

[0016] Hair, thread and other foreign materials, are hereby withdrawnthe rollers and curled up to an oblong cushion in front of these and canthereby be extracted through the pipe connection to the vacuum cleanerat the socket 15. When vacuum cleaning with water the nozzle can beequiped with an injection pipe 19. Water, which is sprayed on the floorsurface, is drawn as explained above, against the duct shaped socket 15and evacuated.

[0017] The brush roller, FIG. 2, is provided with a beam, made as aplane comb-shaped plate 12, as shown in FIG. 4, suspended in the point21 so the teeth of the comb are intruding the bristles at the brushroller, FIG. 2. When the nozzle 14 is moved in the direction asindicated by the arrow b, the brush roller, FIG. 2, is withdrawing hairand foreign materials. When the nozzle 14 is moved in the oppositedirection, as indicated by the arrow a, the brush roller FIG. 2, isrevolving. Hair and foreign materials, caught by the brushes, arescraped off and evacuated. Hair, thread and the like are thereby notwinded around the roller.

[0018] The rubber roller, FIG. 1 is provided with a beam, made as arectangular plate 13, FIG. 4, and suspended in the point 22 in such away, that it fits tightly against the roller, FIG. 1, by means of thespring 20 and is turnable, as indicated by the arrow i. When the nozzle14 is moved in the direction indicated by the arrow a, the roller, FIG.1 is rotating, as indicated by the arrow g, whereby, hair and foreignmaterials including possible water, are scraped off the roller, FIG. 1,by the beam 13, at which the roller becomes self cleaning.

[0019] The rectangular beam 13, FIG. 4, can be so constructed, so itfully or partly, is preventing the air stream to pass the upper side ofthe roller, FIG. 1. The necessary vacuum, sufficient to open the airpassage along the upper side of the roller, FIG. 1, by turning the beam13 as indicated at the arrow i, can be regulated by means of the tensionof the spring 20 or by the weight of the beam 13. When the roller, FIG.1, is lifted from the surface 5, there is unhindered passage of thevacuum stream below the roller by which the vacuum power is lead to thebrush roller, FIG. 2.

1. Nozzle for use in connection with vacuum cleaners, carpet brushing machines or other machines, for cleaning floors, covered with different kind of materials, where the said nozzle comprise a housing (14) and a pipe socket (15 provided with a cylindrical roller of which the axis of rotation is horizontal and is transversely positioned in relation to the moving direction of the machine, characterized thereby, the nozzle is provided with one or more cylindrical rollers, and the roller/rollers comprising an axis (1) and two or more free wheeling bearings (2), fitted in a tube (3) covered with an outside lining (4), the said free wheeling bearings (2) are so constructed, that the roller, during the movement along the surface (5) in one direction, can freely revolve around its own axis, but that the revolving is blocked, when the roller is moved in the opposite direction.
 2. Nozzle in accordance with claim 1 , characterized thereby, one or more of the said rollers, used in the nozzle, are mounted in a set of horizontal possitioned arms (16), turning around a set of pivot pins (17) fastened in the nozzle housing (14) and the pipe socket (15), is activated by a set of bars (9), fastened in the one end in the horizontal mounted arms (16) by the axle (10) and fastened in the other end in the activation handle (7) by the pivot pins (8), and where the suspension is pressed against the surface (5) by springs (18) or its own weight and where the turning axis (8) of the activation handle (7) is placed in the distances (d) and (e) from the two contact surfaces of the activation handle (7), and the said distances (d) and (e) mutually are of different size, whereby the bars (9) can be raised or lowered the distance (f).
 3. Nozzle in accordance with claim 1 or 2 , characterized thereby, one or more of the said rollers, used in the invention, have a plane—or a nearly plane—surface of gummy materials (4).
 4. Nozzle in accordance with claim 1 or 2 , characterized thereby, one or more of the said rollers used in the nozzle, have a surface of brushes or brush like materials (6).
 5. Nozzle in accordance with claim 3 , characterized thereby, the rollers used in the nozzle, are provided with rectangular beams (13), suspended turnable in point (22) in the housing (14) and with contact surface against the roller, and is pressed against this by pressure of the spring (20) or by the own weight of the beam (13).
 6. Nozzle in accordance with claim 4 , characterized thereby, the rollers used in the nozzle, are provided with comb shaped beams (12), suspended turnable in the point (21) in the housing (14) and with contact surface against the roller, and is pressed against this by pressure of the spring (23) or by the own weight of the beam (12).
 7. Nozzle in accordance with claim 5 , characterized thereby, the beam (13) is so carried out, that it fully or partly, is preventing the vacuum air stream passing the space between the under side of the housing (14) and the top side of the roller, in such a way, that the beam (13), which fits tightly against the surface of the roller, is allowed to open, when the vacuum power has reached such a size, exceeding the power of which, the spring (20) and the own weight of the beam (13), is holding the beam (13) pressed against the roller. 